UPSL Announces Georgia Operations Manager Andre Bomar
| United Premier Soccer League Announces Georgia Operations Manager Andre Bomar |
When it comes to working in the world’s most popular sport, Andre Bomar understands just how much emphasis is being placed on the word world.
The newly appointed Operations Manager of the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL) Georgia Division I followed his love for the game where ever it took him.
That started in the 90s when the Spartanburg, South Carolina native traveled to Malmo, a small city in the Skane, a region of Sweden.
“I took a job working at a sports hall where the First Division club at the time would sometimes train,” said Bomar. “It’s where my love of the game sprouted.”
Bomar thereafter returned to the United States in the early 2000s and began working for the Atlanta Silverbacks, an Atlanta-based club that was part of the original North American Soccer League (NASL).
Andre helped build the team website and was a regular contributor until the league collapsed in 2004.
After the collapse of the NASL, Bomar joined the Atlanta District Amateur Soccer League (ADASL), where he dedicated his time helping players gain valuable exposure to the game over a span of ten years.
In 2015, Andre joined Sandy Springs FC of the Atlantic Caribbean Soccer League as a Media Consultant, before taking over at the same position for the entire league two years later.
It was at this time though that the league came under the umbrella of the United Premier Soccer League as the UPSL Atlanta Caribbean Division. Bomar would write, produce, edit and direct everything media-related division-wide.
“We want fans to wrap around their local community clubs, and create their own fan base and atmosphere,” Bomar said.
“The original UPSL Atlanta Caribbean Division Manager, Wesley Graham, has always had the vision of getting the league to the next level and creating more opportunities for players,” Bomar said.
That was until this past September, when Bomar was named Director of Operations for the now re-branded UPSL Georgia Division I. In this position, Andre will promote and manage the division for in-state teams and new regional clubs that fit with the league’s national model.
“Up to now the Georgia Division has been competing in the spring season format only, and whereby now we will spread our wings and become a division that is essentially year-round,” Bomar said.
“We have such a significant soccer melting-pot in the United States, the UPSL is consolidating a fragmented men’s adult amateur market through its open system which provides an opportunity for clubs to compete in a national league. Our goal with the re-branding was to simply open up the division to the entire state of Georgia and not limit it just to the City of Atlanta.”
Andre has big hopes for the division and the rest of the league as he takes over. “It’s a work in progress for sure. The goal is that we want a solid foundation of teams – we want teams that have in mind what the UPSL is and what it can do for them.”
Outside of working in soccer, Andre spends time with his two cats, Ophelia and Hetty, and helping out his beautiful wife Khrishna, who is a professional photographer.
Founded as the Atlantic Caribbean Soccer League in 2000, Bomar joined in 2016 as a Media Consultant before becoming Operations Manager. Soon thereafter the league came under the umbrella of the United Premier Soccer League as the UPSL Atlanta Caribbean Division in 2017.
Other changes include UPSL Georgia Division I games outside of the City of Atlanta, and an increase in the number of games each team plays per season.
Additionally, all UPSL Georgia Division I teams now have the opportunity to operate out of their own stadiums that meet UPSL nationwide minimum standards.
UPSL Georgia Division I will remain in the Southeast Conference, which includes all UPSL Florida divisions and the UPSL Mid-Atlantic South Division, and will introduce a split-season format beginning in 2020 featuring two UPSL Championship Finals in a 12-month window.
